Philippine senate votes for revised resolution on West Philippine Sea

Sen Risa Hontiveros and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri. - Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): After more than a month of debates and closed-door discussions on bringing to the United Nations General Assembly the matter of China’s incursions into the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the Senate on Tuesday (Aug 1) voted unanimously to call on the Philippine government to intensify its efforts in “asserting and securing” the country’s sovereignty.

This united stand, however, stopped short of directing the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to raise China’s incursions before the UN General Assembly, as originally called for by Senate Resolution No. 659 which Sen. Risa Hontiveros filed on June 19.